Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Star Trek Iliad: Double Shift [ChrisGabriel and East]

east

east

Supernova
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Being a Captain of a Starship was supposed to have unspoken rules. Captains don't use the cafeteria for one, they are supposed to be lone isolated creatures that project power and demand obedience with shoulders held high. After ordering a skeleton crew on double shifts, and sitting in the captain's chair for 6 hours, making decisions, and orders from on high for a ship he had yet to fully explore or understand. Nellis was tired, he was not the power-projecting captain he should have been, and he found himself tired, and yawning standing in one of the ship's cafeterias arguing with a broken replicator.

"Cola, cold." He took a sip, finding the drink was both scalding, and also had the distinct aftertaste of diet sweetener. He punched the replicator, repeated the order, and got a similar result. He leaned into the replicator for a moment. Glaring, and whispered into the computer trying his best to keep his voice low and soft. "If you will not give me what I want... I will activate the ship's self-destruct, and take you and every cursed replicator on this ship with me to hell."

The replicator sat in the wall's outcome, not giving out its soft secrets. "can you at least do an ice cream, french vanilla?" He watched as what manifested, was melted white goop. "Of course not." The replicators were not priority systems, his engineering staff were already overworked, he chewed his lip for a moment.



An hour had passed, and Nellis now had a schematic in one hand, the captain of a starship was knee-deep in the internal components of a replicator. He kept telling himself this was supposed to be as simple as a home repair. He had definitely fixed a food replicator back at the academy at least once, and what difference was there between the antiquated and ancient replicators of a Starfleet dormitory and the most advanced ship in the fleet? Except the cruel joke was that his ship wasn't the most advanced in the fleet, it was a half-built monstrous thing that existed with a wing and a prayer.

He tweaked something and was immediately greeted with the distinct smell of burning and a shower of sparks that made his hand go a little numb. His uniform had dark reflective splatters of liquid that while not being Oil definitely smelled and had the purpose of Oil. "You overgrown, over-complicated toaster!"
 
The ship's lounge was large, located on decks 8 and 9 aft, serving as the social center for the starship and made for large gatherings and functions in mind. While it wasn't unheard of having the many replicators used for beverages or food, this was the supposed place for the biggest food and drink replicator. Unfortunately P'rmess and the crew focused more on the personal cabins, leaving the one there for last - and we know how there was no time tofinish the ship before leaving.

Interestingly enough nobody disturbed the captain working on the replicator, even as others came and went, occasionally needing to step over his legs. Whatismore, off-duty engineers and their helpers startedto leave tools for him, - most of them having nousein this situation, but the thought counted, - and they did not have to take them back to engineering, they thought.

Maybe it had to do with the very relaxed and congenial air about the Lounge; the only place on the ship where rank means nothing - "sir" need not be uttered when a person of lower rank addresses an officer, and everyone enjoys equal footing. Opinions can be voiced in complete safety amongst fellow crewmates, offering a place where people can let loose after a long day. Large bay windows offer a stunning view out the aft of the ship, where the warp nacelles hang prominently amidst the stars.

The most notable accessory to the lounge was a modest-sized bar area, offering a wide selection of synthetic and alcoholic beverages, such as chech'tluth, Aldebaran whiskey, Saurian brandy, Tzartak aperitif, Tamarian Frost, C&E Warp Lager, Warnog, Antarean brandy, and countless others. When it was stocked.

The new replicators, feeding off the memory of the new computers, had nearly twice the food and drink options of any ship-bound replicator system in Starfleet creating a more authentic replication. When they worked.

Overall, the lounge would be the most often used recreational area of the ship - if they waited for another week and the remaining of the crew to get onboard with most of the non-replicated stuff.

P'rmess just could not sleep, feeling to alone in her den, not knowing the ship's engineering staff enough to askany of them to cuddle with her like she did with her old crew. She never took the Chief Engineer's cabin among the command staff either - not having the position from the start, and not knowing them enough either. It had been a long day, and after the party she had to recycle the orange jumpsuit of the Utopia Planitia Shipyards. Then the engineering replicator did not wanted to give her another one, not even when she used the command codes of the shipyard - which she was still using for everything, along with all of the engineers who had the shift with her. The difference was that those engineers was nowgoing off shift after a long twelve hours, and as the new shift logged in, they got their flying codes.

But P'rmess just could not stop her shift before she checked out why the Ship's Lounge replicator was offline for service and running level one diagnostic with intermittent offline status. It was part of the 'life support', which was blinking ather in her den, after all. So, a little grumpy, fur freshly puffed up by the sonic shower she hated because of its whining, P'rmess put on her off duty dress - something she got to wear because the sensibilities of the non-furry - and strode to the other end of the deck.

She was a sight. All orange fur with a front cover cloth material in a slightly different hue that was anchored to her neck and tail, barely a string going around her hips holding the front piece to cover her so called privates. It was maybe enough to be called an one piece swimsuit from the front, but left her whole back bare.

When she arrived to the 'shrine' of tools around the command uniformed man, P'rmess was almost starting to tremble with anger and humiliation. Was it really that hard to only use tools what one really needed, and not taking -and leaving - other ones laying around?! Was the engineers and herself that bad to have an unknown officer waist deep in the bowels of the replicator?! She took in air noisily, ready to cuss and be loud at the man, when he movedand she recognised the captain.

Her alertness instantly changed, the whole posture and even the ears on her head moved to an instinctive submission, as she let the air went soundlessly. All that energy and clenched muscles had to somehow relax, leading to her purring. Only her tail was unaffected - it being a well hidden technological marvel. But it at least moved to point at some caked on dirt inside the replicator she could see.

"Let me help you, Captain." her voice was unplannedly husky coming straight after her purring abated. "It seems they left the factory diagnostic run a little messy, and had not found the right vibrations to handle it." which she would soon find with the poised hidden sonic tool following her thoughts as it started cycling though frequencies and intensity aimed at the grit.
 
Rank was an amazing thing, it didn't matter that the captain seemed at a complete loss for what he was doing, or that his hands were covered in cuts and burns, officers simply created a shrine of tools and not a single one offered their captain help. They simply dropped off another tool for the repair and wandered off. Nellis wanted to think that it was because he had the crew's confidence and that these engineers weren't simply laughing at him when they walked away from him. Everyone had let him bury his hands into this work that he really had no business doing, he had learned he was out of his league moments after having crawled under the Replicator and seeing the complex arrangement of isolinier chips and wiring.

Even with a textbook in hand a level 1 diagnostic pointing out problem areas he struggled to try to put things together. He had no idea that so much of this technology was sharp, or that he should have disconnected the power before he had started poking around the insides of the machine. So when he heard a beautiful yet familiar voice tell him that help had arrived, Nellis Keoh slowly dragged himself out from under the replicator's internal components. Seeing the half-dressed Caitian girl he blushed a little sheepishly. "P'rmess, your shift ended a while ago, you should be in bed."

So should he, but Nellis was an addict when it came to sugar and sweets, and for some reason not one replicator aboard this ship had been able to get him a drink or snack that he had been satisfied with. He wondered what she would think if he told her that he had done all of this in hopes of late-night ice cream.

His shift had ended at the same time as hers, but the replicator in his quarters had been even worse than the one that he had been trying to put back together. Still to say that he was grateful for his chief engineer's help in the situation would be an understatement. She was much better suited for this task than he was. He saw the state of her nightgown, swallowing a little as he looked at her, finding her extremely pretty. "I'm sorry, I realize I should have put in a ticket, but there were more important things for your team to be doing, I wanted to try and get this done myself... I suppose that's the hubris of a captain."

"I think I got the cooling unit recalibrated. It should fix the temperature problems." He said looking at her, then averting his eyes back to the work he was doing. Watching as she found grit and dirt inside the machinery. "If we get this thing working, do you wanna spare a moment for a late evening meal with me?"
 
"But my bed is empty, and someone was fiddling with this replicator. I rather would fix it now, than have it on the list for tomorrow... What got you to start playing with it?" she bravely asked, curious what andwhy the captain took it into hishands. Other than all the engineers having off time, that is, the second shift already worked until they shipped out, and the main shift remained an extra four hours. The others resting would be getting up and starting their work in a couple of hours, to have everything ready - what as possible to get ready, that is - for the alpha shift.

"I would have preferred if this worked, or got checked out without now having to put it back together... But pray tell, why dou you have a plasma cutter here for this fix?" The orange furry woman played the naive, but she knew very well who took that plasmacutter out for some work, and would remember it for next time. "All these tools... you would need a cart to take all of them back to their place. Maybe better to just get a box for them and leave it here behind the bar's counter... I know a couple of engineers and helpful people of the crew who would be happy to start searching for them first thing in the morning..."

"Sure, lets get this up and running, and we could be the ones testing it out too. I think I forgot to eat anything after we left the shipyard so abruptly." No need to tell him about the bloody pound of steak she had in the station's cantin before that for breakfast. And it was straight from Earth from a ranch too.

P'rmess definitely had no problems with getting too close to him while they worked. She was using her tail's inbuilt 'sonic screwdriver' to do what she could to clean and vibrate pieces, leaning onto him while gesturing for him what to do, and even standing almost abowe him if he went back low to put things back. The one thing P'rmess was good at is focusing on her work, while 'accidentally' letting others get happy that they worked together.

When they was finishing up with gathering the tools, she got a 'biggest possible cinnamon scented foldable box, folded' from the replicator while he was gathering the items from the floor - which she was gingerly stepping over until then with her naked digitrade legs.

"So, what you want to eat now, Captain Nellis?" she asked, while popping the cake box into form for the tools.
 
Nellis raised an eyebrow at the confession that her bed was empty, he knew some of that feeling though that had never stopped him from sleeping before. He could however empathize with the idea that not having someone to cling to in sleep would make the night feel colder and more difficult to deal with. "I suppose I can say the same." He said after a few moments. She asked him what made him start tinkering with this, and he sighed. "It kept boiling everything I tried to make, the one in my quarters and ready room are doing the same, so I came here hoping to find at least one working replicator, but it was broken down as well." He had to hand it to whoever oversaw the installation of the replicators it was a problem.

Working through the fixes brought him in close contact with P'rmess, touches and soft contacts drifted between the two of them, he got to know the Caitian's sent rather intimately, he acquainted it with cinnamon, brown sugar, and a small hint of cat fur, every touch the two shared had him feeling warm fur which tickled his skin. It was certainly becoming tempting to fill a roll in her bed for the night if such an invitation was being made.

He could tell that she was playing him, that some of these touches lingered because she may have wanted him. However, he didn't know her and getting involved with someone under his command provided risks. They talk about it in command seminars, captains had to be confident, and have the ability to give an order that may result in the death of a crew member, it was the burden of command. If you get involved with someone under your command you may have to give the order that results in their death. Be it an ensign, or in this case his chief engineer. Would he still be able to look at her in the morning and order her to do her job? Could he separate the professional and the personal halves of his life with the crew? One look at her legs, or a sneak peek up her dress confirming the fact that she wasn't wearing anything under the nightgown... told him that no he probably didn't. It would be a mistake to get involved physically or emotionally with P'rmess, but it was a mistake he was going to attempt to charge into anyway.

With the replicator repaired, he helped her gather up some of the tools, as he looked at the finished replicator. "Okay let's try this again, a coke, cold, a plate of french fries thick cut, salted, and peppered, and a side of ketchup for dipping." It was a simple request for a meal, and Nellis's eyes lit up when he saw the refreshing, bubbling dark liquid, even more so when he touched the cold glass, letting out the sigh of a man who had been in desperate need of his daily fix after taking the first sip. The fries were really just an excuse to try and cover his choice of drink. "Earth comfort food, wanna try?"

He looked to P'rmess. "If your quarters are empty, you could always come to stay in mine, the captain's quarters are a bit larger, much easier to fit two on the bed."
 
"You should have ordered tea, or soup... I wonder if it would have given you superheated liquid or gas? But no way, there are safety protocols against that kind of thing..." P'rmess mused, then shookher head "Impossible! Everithing should be all right with your room! Are you sure it is not some hacker joking with you, Captain? Maybe a prank?" still, she focused putting together the lounge replicator for the time being.

The big orange furry kitty-cat was either naive, or playing the tease, for all the poor captain could tell. She did try his fries and even dipping one into the ketchup, but P'rmess stayedaway from his glass. "Not my choice of food, but tastes almost right." she was using her claved fingers to order up her own treat, then snickered when the replicator materialised a pet dish of hot stew. "Now, this is funny. In a bad joke kind of way. One of my past crew must have put this into the database, or had it changed on my own menu." she showed Nellis the engrawed 'BOSS' on the pet bowl as she pulled out it from the replicator with the chopsticks.

"Wanna try?" she coyly lifted a bite sized meat dripping with sauce with the chopsticks, offering it to her captain. "Goes well with the fries."

"Hm? My quarters? Yeah, I presume they are empty, I am not using them... Wouldn't be it rRreally improperRr to cohabit the Captain's QuarRterRs?" she purred standing too close for comfort. "On the otherRr hand, if you can get your firRrst accept it orRr maybe join us, I am not against a snuggling den."
 
Nellis blinked listening to her theory that he was being pranked or sabotaged he shrugged slightly, considering that he had just been knee-deep in the replicator's mechanics and systems he had no idea if that was the case or not. It didn't seem possible, but what he did know is that the one in his room was definitely not working. "Considering the state of the ship, my theory is that the replicators were considered a low priority the private ones were likely the lowest priority so maybe some things got slipped through. It's not important for a captain to get their midnight snacks when the warp core barely works as intended."

As if to back him up there was a slight tremble through the ship that shook the cutlery on the tables. The vibration lasted a few seconds and then seemingly stopped. He leaned in as she offered food and gave it a nibble. He paused for a moment giving the stew a taste, it wasn't bad, but he didn't think he would go for it on a regular base and he definitely wouldn't eat out of a pet bowl.

He coughed a little when she mentioned getting his first officer to join them. He shook his head for a moment. "I don't know Zasha that well, but I doubt that her captain asking her to come to his quarters on their first day would be something that she would appreciate. That could very easily get me written up nine different ways, I was extending the offer to you because you seem interested, but for tonight at least it would be just the two of us."

He took a long drink of his cola trying to clear the bad taste of that moment from his lips. "If I miss read the situation I am very sorry." It was a bit of a loss, but if she wanted Zasha to join them, he would frankly be intimidated by his FO, and he wasn't exactly ready to jump into a trio when he barely knew either one of the women.
 
"Nonsense. Replicators are part of the luxuries that comes with life support, and I personally made sure they work in every suite..." P'rmess thought back to her rounds in the officer and quest quarters. "However... only these are connected straight to the wide selection of foods and drinks... Did you bring your own programs? It could be that the transfer between old and new got flaggedas security risk, or there iscompatibilityissues. Rare,but can't think ofanything else. Unless we have goblins." she seemed to bristle maybe even more, as her hair was already flying from the static of the waterless shower in the industrial cleaner.

"Are you saying that engineering did not do their job? That the shipyard and the ship'sengineers, and I am not worth a dime?!" it looked like that the ship replied to her indignant anger with a little shaking, but thankfully the vibrations seemed to loosen up some of the flexing muscles in her body. "Oh well, maybe next time you won't hurry up the start with a not finished creation or repairs." P'rmess tried to shrug off the words of the captain, and stuff his mouth, and then her own to stop from saying more making her feel worse.

Chewing and eating she contemplated the situation, then sook her head. "No... maybe it was I who misread your words, Captain. I would be bad company just for tonight, or any one night as long as the ship is in this very sorry state. Better give my attention to the barely working warp core. I can take a look at your replicator in my next shift, until then you should use the one near the bridge for your morning beverage."
 
"Engineering has done admirably. You are a credit to the crew, and I doubt that Montgomery Scott himself could do better in the situation we have found ourselves in." Keoh saw the anger he had caused and tried to clear the air between the two of them. He hadn't meant for his theory to cause pain, but she was right that this ship was launched while it wasn't finished. "I know launching the ship while it was still a week from being fully finished was not any one person's plan. I don't want you to feel that I do not appreciate the work you, and your crew are putting in. Launching the ship under such short notice was a lot to ask of anyone."

Nellis reached out for a moment, wanting to touch her hand, but he fell short, he wasn't sure what he was allowed to do at the moment, and the part of him that said he was the captain of the ship told him to pull back his hand, even if he was already rather invested in this conversation. "I don't want to see you pressure yourself to a breaking point over my words."

Nellis was quickly learning that he had to choose his words far more carefully. He didn't want to see P'mress exhaust herself. He was pretty sure he had blown his chances with her, but that didn't mean he wanted to see her distressed and angry. He genuinely felt bad that his words had caused her pain or that she had taken them so negatively. "Please we are off duty, call me Nellis, I'm not trying to be the captain right now, I'm trying to have a conversation with a friend."
 
"I know the truth behind your words. That does not make the words true. As the Vulcans would say, your intentions are unclear. I am not like my cousins, and this is a Starfleet wessel, so there won't be fighting about your words, Nellis, Captain or no rank. But I will fight for this crew and for this ship, if your actions call for it." P'rmess was not really able to pout or sulk, but she could focus on her stew, until she licked the bowl clear.

"What kind of music do you like, Nellis? What about your favorite culture in the Federation?" she did went to the 'have a conversation' part, when her silence was becoming too much for him.
 
Nellis shifted uncomfortably for a moment. He was being genuine, trying to offer praise and comfort, and yet he could feel the atmosphere between the two get cold. It sent a shiver up and down his spine that made the entire room feel like it was suddenly 10 degrees colder, as he had to try to work out the words P'rmess was saying.

Now, who is being unclear? Keoh kept that thought to himself. He knew that compared to the warm and physical nature of the start of the conversation he had somehow managed to bury himself deep underground. He didn't do well with silence, as he plucked away at his food. He saw the conversation about music as a small lifeline being cast toward him, but there was little question that his attempt at trying to woo P'rmess had crashed and burned before his very eyes.

"Favorite music? I do tend to enjoy classical earth music, from the late 1900s back then earth was a much more divided culture, and the punk rock music genre with composures like my chemical romance always sort of brings out this enthusiastic childish energy that I enjoy from the time period. I suppose my more modern leanings would be Klingon but honestly, they tend to put too much grunge into their metal. As for favorite culture?" He sighed, may as well try to have a deep conversation if he could.

"Weddings." He took a sip of cola for a moment savoring the taste while he tried to build up his words. "I was born on a Starfleet ship, my mother is an admiral, and my father was a captain, and when you live and grow up under the shadow of Starfleet a lot of things can feel very homogenized. Worlds can get broken down and called the planets of hats, we can be a little reductive in our methods at times. But because of this, I have been to over 200 weddings so many different worlds that it can be hard to keep track. With different customs and pairings, it's always wonderful. It's always this great celebration of life, and love in all its forms. I think those are my favorite days in Starfleet. When people can put aside the mundane and come together for a celebration."
 
"Ahh... the time when music decoupled from the church and court, replaced the ideals of order, symmetry, and form to value the natural world. Idealize the life of the common man, rebell against social conventions, and stress the importance of the emotional in art. The spreading of large theater and parlors... becoming the frenzied chaos of anarchy and bare emotions within a hundred years." the alien catgirl mused. "I have to say I feel much more closer to the classical music of Earth's so called East about the same time, before they mixed in the foreigners'... Ukiyo culture, as one would say. Never was big for weddings, at least not the big cultural get togethers. I am more of a hand-fasting rituals kind of girl. Nothing permanent or which counts on outside forces to keep them together."

Getting up P'rmess went to the replicator. "Want anything to drink?" she ordered something with nail claws clicking on the interface as she choose hers, something with a curly straw. Then she started slurping on it even as she started back to the table.

"I like the endless science and technology of Starfleet within the Federation, nobody else has access to all these neat toys. And if they do, then sooner or later Starfleet will have access too, one way or another..."
 
It took Nellis a few moments to follow the line of logic that P'rmess laid down to the Edo period of Japan. Nellis's main field of experience of the 19th and 20th centuries of earth, and the Edo period of art was much before that time. "I'm more familiar with the art than the music of the movement." He said honestly, he knew the paintings from visits to museums. If there was one thing that Earth loved to do it was put its history on display, the good and the bad.

"Honestly yes, I would love another drink. Something tropical, and loaded." Replicators took some of the fun out of life, synthenol wasn't as strong as the real thing, and the hangovers felt weaker, which made sense you couldn't really expect a starship crew to drink themselves to death and still be ready to work on their next shift.

"You make it sound ominous like we are the borg out to assimilate other worlds and add their toy box to our own." There was some truth to those words though, the federation had a way of making sure everyone signed up with them eventually. While they had never managed to get the Klingons to sign a full joining, the treaties that they did have guaranteed the transfer of people and ideas through each other's territories and defensive pacts that joined the empire and the federation at the hip. The Romulans were only just starting to sign similar accords, and in five or ten years they would even welcome the Cardassians into the federation as they were currently petitioning to be a satellite state.

"Starfleet isn't trying to conquer the universe, or anything so dramatic, but I agree, we do have the best toys." He gave her a playful wink. "Of course when people take our toys, suddenly its a case of mass hysteria, Starfleet does its best to lock stuff away that is too dangerous, but Starfleet never really seems good at checking in on things. Solve one problem, then fly off to the next assignment... I don't think I noticed till I was a captain, but we have so many blindspots." Nellis had been a captain on active duty for less than a day, but he had been a captain in rank for a little over a month, he had overseen some of the construction of this ship, and of during that time he had gotten to sit on a lot of security meetings, and learn a lot of otherwise classified information, some of those meetings kept him up at night.
 
For the loaded drink P'rmess spent a little more time with the replicator and upended a patera of clear liquid into his glass of tequila sunrise. Putting it in front of him, she said "To calm your inner ghosts, I hope you wouldn't hold this against me, Captain." then sat back down and heard him out, while he sipped from the now alcoholic drink.

"I still rather be part of Starfleet than any of the other armed explorers. At least the Federation has a past of peace and helping - unless someone was beneath them, of course... Thankfully most good human captains found ways to go around the letters and intended meaning of prime directive to sometimes help. Unfortunately there is just as much of them broke etical rules and went rogue..." she wriggled-shrugged-stretched.

"There is too much secrets even inside the Federation, and then we have all those non-federation intelligence... I am really thankful that it is all abowe my paygrade, and never will be my concern being enlisted and not commissioned."

"But lets put work and concerns to the side, we are both off duty. Tell me how you envision your own wedding, and if there is anyone you ever imagined being there with you..."
 
He watched the way she wiggled in her seat, Nellis found it rather endearing in all honesty. She was very cute, the part in the back of his head emboldened by the influx of liquor begged to know the simple question of if she would ever let him call her kitten. The thought was quickly banished to the shadows to refocus on the talks the two of them were having. He chuckled a little as she mentioned the dark secrets of the federation and how they were above her pay grade as an NCO. "Don't be so sure it could happen. Starfleet loves to install classified bits and bobbles onto their new ships without telling anyone, the engineer's building the ships would be the only ones who know it's there."

"Not to mention you're part of my senior staff now, the longer you stay aboard the ship, the more dark side of Starfleet you could encounter, but I'll try not to be a corruptable captain I could use a good moral compass to keep me on track."

He blinked once or twice as she asked him how he envisioned his wedding and if there was anyone he would imagine being there with him. "I haven't really pinned down what I would want. For me, I guess I would want it to happen in a holodeck, you can better control all the variables, no rampant weather. I think the actual program depends on the future wife, I'd want the venue to match her dress so that when I watch her walk down the aisle it doesn't seem wildly out of place, but I would like it to be a small affair, family, and friends on the guest list." He chuckled a little. He didn't have a dream wedding in his mind. Which might have been a bit of a shame.

"Though that's probably not going to happen for me any time soon. I'm in between relationships right now. So I am very open to something new, but I'm not ready to settle down with a wedding until I know the person I'd be spending the rest of my life with."
 
Lost in her thoughts about the engineering secrets of the ship P'rmess also tried to imagine a holodeck wedding as he was telling about that. Then she grinned - which was more like just slightly parted muzzle and tongue poking out. "I imagine if it was such asecret that only engineering knew, not even the captain would be told about it. But mostly because we wouldn't want to bother him or her as long as the ship was running clean. There is always secrets, but I would rather call them knowledges, that was about the peculiars of the ship."

Then she leaned forward a little, careful that the table was not pushing against her front. "So, tell me Nellis, have you been looking? Who to get closer to, who is cool, who seems cold, but nice, and who would jump easily into your bed if asked? I am sure some young Ensigns or noncon look up at you like you was Captain Kirk... How bad is that most of them missed the ship with us shipping out early! ... And with the not enough personel for all the ships thing."
 
Nellis shrugged. "I didn't get much of a briefing. I got some schematics, and of course I've seen holograms of what a Sovergn is capable of, but I doubt even Picard knows every piece of the enterprise, and it's my first day, I imagine I'm going to be getting lost just trying to find my way back to my quarters." He chuckled a little looking at P'rmess as he sipped his drink a bit more.

"There is one woman I've been looking at. She seems very fun, but I don't know if she would jump easily into my bed. She's a very witty NCO, a bit of a soft russet, or maybe ginger under the right lighting. Eyes bright like stars." He leaned back in his seat. "A lot of people find captains to be intimidating, there is a fine line between asking someone to your quarters and commanding someone to do something. Our ship doesn't have a counselor so I have to be very careful in how I approach this woman after all I wouldn't want to be one of those corruptable captains ordering those under him to service him."

"It's getting a bit late though, what are the odds that if I start heading towards my cabin she follows me home I wonder?"
 
"I would blush if I could, but at least I am civilised enough to both understand that and not pant in heat..." P'rmess tried to smirk and wink at him, all those signs that supposed to be give humans the right reaction. She did do some research into the matter when humans was getting significantly part of her engineering crew or whoshe workedwith. Then she got a group of replicants to boss around, and they was justboring socially.

"Oh, would you need some help to find your quarters? I do know where to find it... Captains are intimidating for sure, but I do not mind if someone is playful and commands me to do something outside of work... But I can't promise you wouldn't need a counselor, so better not be any jumping into beds just straight in our first day on the voyage. Oe should we callit Odyssey?"

Then at his next words she tried to pout, her ears flattened to her skull. "I am not a stray kitty mister officer. If you need more than a friendly cuddling, you have to hunt down this wild cat. And on that note, it is always better if there are more people in a nest to cuddle with, but rutting is better be exclusive and lasting. For that, I am not desperate, and you do not know me enough." P'rmess playfully put Nellis on his way to his cabin - or at least to the turbolift.
 
Nellis found her wink and her smirk to be very cute. The way her tongue poked out through her teeth, those gestures were very easy to catch, but his eyes were drawn to her ears, they seemed to be the most telling for her emotions, at least that was his current theory, helped up by her reactions so far. She was right, it was a bit early to start jumping into beds, and they had only just disembarked. He nodded understanding her words, and had to give a little giggle as she said she wasn't a stray kitty, the thought again if he could ever get away with such a nickname was a bit of a daunting challenge, but as she said perhaps it was best not to try on the first night aboard the ship. Her comment about it being their odyssey made him chuckle a little. "Hopefully we get a long enough adventure to get to know one another."

"You're right of course it is only the first night on the voyage." Walking towards the turbo lift he nodded in understanding. "A night of friendly cuddling would be nice though. A welcome change from the chaos of the morning. If you do want some chaste company for the night my doors will be open to you." As curious as he was about rutting, he did agree that it was something to be saved for exclusive relationships and that neither one of them knew each other that well, but he also liked the idea of sharing a bed with her, snuggling up to her warm soft fur.

"Captain's quarters can be a terribly large and lonely nest. In some way, I actually preferred the quarters of the academy, basic crew accommodation bunk beds. You never realize how much you miss sleeping around people until you are in a cabin and can no longer hear other people breathing around you. So I do know what you mean by the more in a nest the better." He smiled a little. "My first posting was on a Miranda class ship... I kinda miss how small and intimate it was."
 
"You could always repartition your suite, Captain, if it feels too big. But there are enough empty spaces even officer cabins at this time to make the den of debauchery elsewhere..." P'rmess was surprised at herself that she got into the turbolift with the man, but was not feeling the need to follow him out towards his cabin. "Maybe you will find stuff later to fill the empty place, mementos, artifacts, sexy alien girls... Good night, Captain." pulling back she would let the turbolift doors close,and hoped that Captain Nellis wouldn't push for more this time.
 
"Yeah this ship does feel a little more empty." Nellis watched P'rmess as the Turbolift carried them, but understood that this would be as far as things went for the night. He exited the lift at his cabin giving a forlorn smile towards her. "A good night to you as well Chief." He didn't like that the night ended with ranks, it left a bit of a sour taste on his lips to an otherwise good night of talk and flirting. Getting to his cabin it was dark, empty, and a bit cold just as he described it. "Computer bring up the room temperature by five degrees or so."

going through the nighttime rituals he thought about repartitioning his suite, currently, it was a bit of a meaningless privilege that kept him away from others. At the same time if he did that, and started sleeping in a four-man bunk room with the lower decks he wouldn't have the same wall of privacy. Tired, and now uncomfortable he lay in his bed, shirt and boxers adorned as green eyes questioned the life choices he had made today. He couldn't really tell if P'rmess liked him or not, if she was humoring him or if she was genuinely amused by their time together. She had started things off trying to initiate a threesome with another woman he had barely known, only to end with her turning down the invitation to cuddle... Nellis supposed that meant it had to be him that had been off-putting.

For his part, he had enjoyed his time with her. She seemed witty, cute, and surprisingly flirty, he had enjoyed the range of topics the two had covered, Her taste in music had still confused him, to the point where he paused for a moment. It wasn't like she had given him a band or piece to look up but still wanted to try and hear something. "Computer access cultural database, find a sampling of classical music from earth's Japan, set Edo period? Something relaxing." The computer pulled from one or another source and picked a song that Nellis could listen to as he tried to drift to sleep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom